The "I" way. That's "I" as in "I like it" or "I don't like it".

At the core of this approach is a statistical flaw - the notion that one or two or even five samples represent the entire universe.

It is the equivalent of calling five people on election eve, asking who they will vote for, then declaring that candidate the winner.

Here's the deal. It doesn't matter what Charlie or Charla like. Or what they don’t like. What matters is the target audience.

And no one, not one person on planet earth, has the ability to look at an advertising campaign and infallibly predict the results.

Luke Sullivan, one of the best copywriters in the States, hates that grocer, Mr. Whipple, the character in the Charmin toilet tissue ads.

(If you haven't seen the campaign, Mr Whipple is a fastidious grocery store clerk who catches shoppers enjoying the soft feel of the tissue. His signature line is, “Please don’t squeeze the Charmin!”)

And if the campaign had to pass Luke's "I" test it would have failed.

When first launched, the Whipple character took Charmin to the top of it's category in sales.

Then the Whipple campaign was dumped, replaced with something not nearly as memorable.

The result, Charmin's market share shrank. And shrank. And shrank some more. Until, guess what, they brought back Mr. Whipple.

So sorry Luke. You may not like him. But give Mr. Whipple a shot.

And rather than the "I" way, try to look at the ad or campaign through the eyes of your target audience.

What you want to say, or hear from your associates is, “I think this campaign will work, or won't work, with the target audience because ...”